Pea Ridge Makes A Statement

Dayton Winn, center, a Pea Ridge running back, runs through the Ozark defense on Friday.
Dayton Winn, center, a Pea Ridge running back, runs through the Ozark defense on Friday.

— Pea Ridge denied Ozark a last-second touchdown to hold onto a 14-7 lead and remain undefeated Friday at Blackhawk Stadium.

The Blackhawks (7-0, 4-0 4A-1 Conference) jumped out to a two-touchdown lead in the first quarter when Dayton Winn scored on back-to-back drives with a pair of touchdowns from 50-plus yards. Austin Easterling threw a 50-yard touchdown pass to the senior running back during the Blackhawks' second possession, and on the following offensive drive, Winn scored on a 68-yard run to give Pea Ridge a 14-0 lead.

Gamebreaker

Pea Ridge 14 Ozark 7

Why the Blackhawks won

The defense made big plays when it needed to. Pea Ridge intercepted three passes, including two in the red zone, and made a few big defensive plays at the end to prevent the game from going into overtime.

Why the Hillbillies lost

Ozark stalled too often. Even though the Hillbillies gained 240 yards of total offense, they were only able to score once.

Pea Ridge was unable to add to its lead, however, as Ozark held the Blackhawks scoreless for the final 36 minutes of the game. The Hillbillies (5-2, 2-2) scored in the final minute of the third quarter when Jonathan McKenzie connected with Brandon Brokeshoulder for a 44-yard touchdown pass and Ozark had a chance until the final buzzer sounded.

After Pea Ridge had driven the ball to the Ozark 20-yard line on 12 plays on its last possession of the game, Nick DeLeon missed a 37-yard field goal and Ozark had a chance to send the game into overtime.

“I know (clock management) can come back to bite you, and in the back of my mind I was thinking, 'if we run this thing down and they score and make it 14-14, I'm going to wish I had that time,’ but we put our belief in our defense,” Pea Ridge coach Tony Travis said.

Ozark used just six plays to move the ball to the Pea Ridge 31, but the Blackhawks prevailed by forcing two incompletions on the final two plays of the game.

“Momentum swung on us with penalties and Ozark playing really good defense in the second half, but I was proud of how our guys responded and managed to swing it back by playing some great defense there at the end and getting a great win,” Travis said.

The Hillbillies struggled to move the ball in the first half, punting on their first three possessions, but on their last offensive series before halftime, McKenzie moved the chains with his arm and his legs four times in as many plays, driving the ball deep into Blackhawk territory before his quarterback counterpart, Easterling, intercepted a pass at the 3.

Similarly, Ozark was on the verge of scoring in the third quarter when Winn intercepted a pass in the end zone. The Hillbillies produced 240 yards of total offense, but only managed one scoring drive.

“That killed us,” Ozark coach Jeremie Burns said. “When you can get a drive going and then it gets killed like that, by a penalty or whatever it is, that can be the difference in the ballgame.”

While Winn totaled 258 all-purpose yards, perhaps his biggest contribution came on the defensive side of the ball. In addition to his interception in the end zone, he also picked off McKenzie in the fourth quarter, leading to the Blackhawks' time-consuming drive before the missed field goal.

“The defense has played really well all year long,” Travis said. “They're the strength of this team and they continued that tonight.

“Ozark is a great football program. This is a really big win. For us to be 7-0 heading into a big game next week with Prairie Grove, we're right where we want to be.”

Upcoming Events